With a name like Aborted Fetus, you’re either guaranteed some porno grind or brutal death metal – it’s never gonna get something that sounds like Nighwish. Although how awesome would that be? Tuomas Holopainen’s “The Life and Times of Aborted Fetus”…

Enough daydreaming.

Aborted Fetus is indeed a brutal death metal band hailing from Perm Krai Russia, and has a surprisingly long discography to their credit. THE ART OF VIOLENT TORTURE is their most recent full length, and specializes in the kind of sub-guttural emanations you’d expect from a band named Aborted Fetus.

For the sake of clarification - is there a kind of torture that’s not violent? Like a tickle fight, or playing U2 at an obnoxiously loud decibel? Just seems to me that the base concept of torture itself involves some degree of violence, but I could be wrong.

Musically, the band sounds like they’ve spent a lot of time listening to albums like HUMAN WASTE and DAWN OF POSSESSION; there’s definitely some old school NY in their record collection. Most of the album is content to bludgeon the listener with meat fisted riffs and blast beats, but as you pass the halfway point, there’s some interesting stuff hiding in the latter half of the record. Following the serene interlude of “Awaiting…” the band pivots towards more demonstrative and structured efforts like “Burning at the Stake” and “Axe Decapitation”, the latter swinging a sweet groove like the executioner swings the axe. “Buried Alive” is the standout cut though, picking up the melody line from “Awaiting…” and building it into something more evolved and impactful.

THE ART OF VIOLENT TORTURE is a sonic and creative step up from the band’s previous efforts, but can still be a tough album to wrap your head around if you don't live and breath this stuff. At the end of the day, this scene is either already your thing or it’s not; no review is going to sway you otherwise. But if you’ve got an affinity for the uglier and slamtastic end of the metal spectrum, Aborted Fetus certainly isn’t the worst you can do.

Track Listing

1. The Art of Pain
2. Boiled Alive
3. Hanged on the Hook by the Rib
4. Blinded by the Flame
5. Pouring Molten Lead into a Throat
6. Awaiting...
7. Burning at Stake
8. Axe Decapitation
9. Buried Alive
10. Impalement
11. Breaking Wheel
12. Hanged and Quartered
13. The Last Way